Benjamin Clark

Software engineer (ex-Google/YouTube), politics+economics+history nerd, Caltech alum, skier

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@EllliotttB The duplexes & warehouse were both built sometime between 1985 & 1997 on what was previously farmland based on historical satellite imagery. So not sure this says much about current land use policy.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@AdrienLE Is the pro-CoT soft tokens case about model capabilities or inference compute efficiency? If the second, have we exhausted the headroom to make CoTs concise while still interpretable (e.g. make the CoT a terse shorthand relative to the model's typical style)?

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@ToddTopliff @SMB_Attorney It's not ego, it's new information (that no one else was interested) that is visible to both parties. The buyer correctly realizes his prior offer of $3.9 was too high and he got lucky it didn't get accepted. As much as the seller might wish the buyer was foolish, tough luck.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@BarryRoland19 Disagree. I'm a happy customer of the auto maintenance shop who referred me to a great auto glass shop when needed vs. the electrician who couldn't suggest anyone to patch holes. Putting off other electrical home projects and probably will go elsewhere due to the hassle.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@mattyglesias @ModeledBehavior @hassankhan @MattBruenig @EricLevitz Sometimes the typical tax system fits very poorly for the economics of an industry and keeping it the same would result in large deadweight loss. Better to adapt rather than be stubborn. Need to align the tax burden with the incremental value of being in that location.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@TheZvi There are other stakeholders than customers involved in a restaurant. When it gets out that you are closing, employees start disappearing fast getting new jobs and suppliers stop extending credit lest they be left hanging. So I suspect it is very hard to do this well.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@TonyVolpon @HannoLustig This Matt Levine article is my go-to explainer for this: https://t.co/aN33SeEi1l

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@RyanDeto 2022 law, not 2024. The law requires them to give the municipality 10 days notice in writing.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@ShanuMathew93 https://t.co/YL3uZTPayz is the best thing I've seen publicly available for identifying the optimal solar+battery combo. They look at the case of gas gens as a backup (appropriate for west Texas off grid scenarios they are modeling), but the approach is generalizable.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@ShanuMathew93 What you describe as an 8 hour battery is 8 hours of the solar system size, not the 300MW load. So this is more like a 32 hour battery. Which is definitely not on the cost-optimal frontier so I this makes solar+battery look worse than actual.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@EricBalchunas It's fine to not be an adventure traveler, but piracy is way down the list of risks for sailing. It's news (and in the NY Post) because it's weird. Nature and one's skill in maintaining/operating the boat are the more notable risks.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@cremieuxrecueil The next question for me will be whether to do anything further once I get steady state labs from that. I'm starting from a very high baseline LDL so even w/ strong response, it won't be low. PCSK9 inhibitors look like great medications, but ROI is borderline at current pricing

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@Noahpinion Is that the case here? The article doesn't say so and looking online (including at Kyoto's own website), I couldn't find any evidence this doesn't apply to domestic visitors as well.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@moseskagan I mean this pretty accurately describes the online review I left for my last apartment when I moved out upon buying my house so it does happen.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@realEstateTrent Otherwise, isn't this just an agreement between two other parties? If the propane company wants to come remove their tank, sure, go ahead. Otherwise, they are abandoning their tank on your property and don't see why you can't use it as you please.

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@realEstateTrent Why can't anyone else touch it? The competitors don't have a legal obligation to that company. Did you sign anything during purchase that makes you? Is there an easement on the deed?

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@moseskagan It's a service that needs to exist, but those most in need of it are least able to judge quality & price of the service. So too many bad outcomes.

While it's good to have as a fallback, wouldn't you feel more success as a parent if your kids are able to manage it independently?

[Benjamin Clark @BenjaminMClark]

@bethanyjbabcock Yeah, lots of better alternatives to building a new pool: this, an annual membership to a good community pool, a affordable above ground pool from Costco/Amazon. Especially since what you want and frequency of use can vary a lot over the years.